A bipartisan bill that encourages science of reading approaches in federal literacy grant programs — and discredits the three-cueing model of teaching reading — won unanimous approval from the House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday.
The Science of Reading Act, H.R. 7890, specifies that state applications for comprehensive K-12 literacy state development grants should describe how the state's literacy instruction plan aligns with the science of reading approach.
The legislation is "a reasonable, research-based approach to ensure that federal literacy funding supports practices that help students learn to read," said Ranking Member Bobby Scott, D-Va. He noted that the bill clarifies that federally supported literacy instruction should be in line with science of reading, "including core components such as phonics, fluency, and vocabulary,"
The science of reading approach explicitly teaches students the connections between letters and sounds through decoding and phonetic memorization. In contrast, the three-cueing approach encourages students to use meaning, structure and visual cues to identify unfamiliar words.
Committee Chair Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said the three-cueing approach "has been terrible for students." The panel's bill, he said, "prioritizes states that adopt phonics-based instruction grounded in the science of reading."
The measure also emphasizes the protection of local control for instruction and for the rights of students with disabilities.
The legislation aligns with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon's priorities for literacy improvement. Ahead of McMahon's one-year anniversary as leader of the U.S. Department of Education, she told K-12 Dive the agency was creating toolkits with model instructional practices, including those for better literacy achievement.
In recent years, states have introduced and passed dozens of literacy bills, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2024, for example, at least 35 literacy bills were enacted in 25 states. The bills touched on a variety of literacy issues, including dyslexia, interventions, teacher training and assessments, NCSL said.
In supporting the federal bill on Tuesday, Rep. Ryan MacKenzie, R-Pa., said it was time for "Congress to double down on what works."
Debating sexually explicit materials
Another curriculum-related bill considered by the committee Tuesday was more contentious, ultimately passing by a 18-13 Republican majority vote.
The Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, HR 7661, would prohibit federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds to be used for "sexually oriented material."
The bill defines that material as involving sexually explicit depiction and description of gender dysphoria or “transgenderism” and including "nude adults, individuals who are stripping, or lewd or lascivious dancing." The bill makes exceptions for coursework in biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, cytology, genetics, ecology, human health, or human anatomy and physiology.
It also would exempt texts of major world religions, classic works of literature and classic works of art.
Still, Scott said the bill was "drafted so poorly" that it would prohibit the teaching of the Virginia state flag, which shows the Roman goddess of virtue with an exposed breast, or the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guarantees the right to marriage for same-sex couples.
"No one is advocating that schools teach age-inappropriate material," Scott said. "This bill attempts to impose federal censorship on what can be taught in states and classrooms across the country."
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Mary Miller, R- Ill., said, "Schools should be laser-focused on improving educational outcomes, not pushing sexually explicit material in the classrooms."
Miller said inappropriate content for kindergartners is available in many schools. "What we're talking about is obscene, and it's being funded by taxpayer dollars."
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said the bill would harm transgender students and be confusing for schools. "This bill represents a sweeping overreach of congressional authority fueled by narrow-mindedness and religious extremism. And as I've said many times, this is the United States Congress, not a school board. Let's leave local issues to local districts and end federal interference in school curriculum."
Miller, however, said the exceptions in the bill are narrowly tailored to ensure that "legitimate curriculum can be taught while excluding inappropriate content. We have overwhelming evidence that some schools are teaching inappropriate content."
During a discussion about the bill's inclusion of transgenderism as sexuality oriented material, Walberg said students who are "confused about their gender should be treated with love and respect." But he said he supports the bill because it would help ensure that federal funds "are not used to groom vulnerable children into life-altering choices."
The committee approved an amendment to the bill offered by Scott that would also provide an exception for teaching students how to protect themselves from sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
Both bills — the Science of Reading Act and the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act — will advance to the full House for consideration. There is not yet companion legislation in the Senate, according to Congress.gov.
